On Wednesday, November 23, 2022, Thompson Rivers University’s Bob Gaglardi School of Business and Economics hosted an educational and support-focused event, Addiction Awareness: It’s Time to End the Stigma in the Terrace Room, 2nd Floor Campus Activity Centre at 5 pm. A safe space created to learn how to support people struggling with substance use, the open event featured a keynote speaker, Dr. Mandy Manak, an experienced addiction medicine physician who shared her thoughts on “How to Stay Resilient During an Opioid Epidemic.”

by Jannat Bhullar

The TRU Bob Gaglardi School of Business and Economics, with support from the Aaron Manson “Be Brave” Memorial Fund, presented an educational and support-focused event during National Addiction Awareness Week. The Addiction Awareness: It’s Time to End the Stigma event talked about ending the stigma behind addiction. The audience and the speakers were welcomed by TRU’s Dean of the School of Business, Dr. Michael Henry, with an opening comment and land acknowledgement. The event was hosted with support from TRU’s Faculty of Student Development. Additional support presented by TRU Wellness Centre, Interior Health, and A New Tomorrow: Treatment Solutions provided resources to deal with addiction along with Naloxone training demonstration and kits.  

The Aaron Manson “Be Brave” Memorial Fund has been introduced in memory of Aaron Manson, a 28-year-old student at TRU’s School of Business and Economics who passed in an unfortunate event. As described by Aaron’s father, “Aaron was an intelligent kid who was always eager to participate in opportunities that came his way. A shining personality, he was always involved in sports and ready to stand up for himself and his friends. Although diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder at a young age, Aaron always indulged himself in studying philosophy. He wanted to pursue human resources and envisioned a life where he helped others. Yet came a time when his addiction started taking over his life.” Wanting to seek recovery from his addiction, Aaron found relief through journaling and counselling. However, he also faced moments where he slipped off the path of recovery that, instilled high levels of anxiety and self-embarrassment in his confidence. Being mentally and emotionally taken back, he found refuge in medication for addiction, but in an unfortunate accident, he consumed 25 times the prescribed dose and passed away.  

Keynote speaker Dr. Mandy Manak, a TRU graduate and an experienced addiction medicine physician, shared her thoughts on “How to Stay Resilient During an Opioid Epidemic.” She describes the first use of opioids as the feeling of a “big warm hug” that eventually stops the person from thinking or acting the way they want to. However, consecutive uses can never give the feeling of the first time again and lead the person into chasing a dragon they should be afraid of. Dr. Manak questions who is perceived as an addict and who might be an addict. She explains humans to be complex creatures running from something in desperate need of dopamine. She continues to add that “nicotine affects the human mind faster and hijacks the reward pathway taking away any pain emotion. As the memory starts to get addicted, a person’s fight or flight responses are restricted, giving the person cues to do more for survival.” In addition, the takeover from addiction makes a person cheat or lie to their family, pushing away the feelings of belongingness and importance in a community. 

Dr. Manak elaborates with the example of when people have wine regularly at dinner parties or get together, but the addiction never sets in under those circumstances. Thus, when a person feels that they belong to a tribe and can have fun with others, the body produces dopamine as an outcome of social interactions and not through reliance on alcohol. Referring to the Rat Park experiment, in her ending comments, Dr. Manak mentions that “today’s recovery is about creating resiliency and a community that includes and indulges every human being into a sense of belongingness and importance in the greater community, offering people something different than what they already have.”As addiction mentally and emotionally affects not only individuals but also those around them. It is hence crucial that people are aware of the ways they can seek help to fight against addiction. For example, according to the TRU Wellness Centre website on Substance Use (https://www.tru.ca/current/wellness/wellness/fentanyl.html), “unintentional drug overdoses are identified as the most preventable cause of death in British Columbia.” Additionally, as discussed in an interview with Samikshya Paudel, a Wellness Ambassador, “the TRU Wellness Centre (OM 1479) conducts Naloxone training and provides students with Naloxone Kits that allow temporary reversal of the effects of an overdose related to opiate-type drugs such as fentanyl, morphine, heroin, methadone, etc. Moreover, accessing the TRU Counselling Centre (OM 1631), TRU Health Services (OM 1461), and Student Affairs Case Management (OM 1631) can allow you to get the help you need and find resources to support your recovery